1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a technique to facilitate making settings for starting wireless communication between communication apparatuses.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, wireless communication such as wireless LAN and Bluetooth (registered trademark) has been increasingly used as means for communication between electronic devices such as cellular phone terminals, gaming devices, and television receivers and as means for communication between such a device and an access point. Wireless communication does not require wiring that connects between the electronic devices. Therefore, the use of wireless communication allows even a terminal device for portable use such as a cellular phone terminal to communicate with a desired electronic device. In contrast to such an advantage, wireless communication involves the risk that the content of communication may be intercepted and the risk that an outsider may invade the network.
In order to avoid such risks, an “authentication” process is normally performed for a terminal that connects to a wireless network. For example, IEEE 802.11 standards prepare two types of authentication methods, namely “Open System Authentication” and “Shared Key Authentication”. In the “Open System Authentication”, when a request for authentication is transmitted from a client, a device that functions as a registrar in which information on clients is registered (hereinafter simply referred to as “registrar”) sends back a response including a message indicating a successful authentication or an authentication error. In the “Shared Key Authentication”, keys are set for both a registrar and a client to perform authentication using a challenge-response method.
In order to further enhance the security of the wireless LAN, the authentication operation itself is occasionally encrypted. Examples of the encryption method include a WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) method and a WPA (Wireless Protected Access)/WPA2 method.
In order to make initial settings for starting communication as discussed above, a user is required to perform operations including checking an SSID (Service Set IDentifier) of a device to input the SSID, or selecting an SSID from a list, setting a security key such as a WEP key or a WPA key, and so forth. That is, the operations for setting authentication are troublesome. Further, technical knowledge is required to perform such operations, and therefore it is difficult for a user without such knowledge to even make settings.
In order to address such issues, a standard called WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) is provided to simplify settings for registering a client in a wireless LAN. The WPS prepares two setting methods, namely a “Push Button Method” and a “PIN Code Method”.
In the Push Button Method, it is necessary to provide a dedicated button to each of a registrar and a client. Then, a user pushes the dedicated buttons provided in both the registrar and the client to complete security settings using ESSID and WPA2.
In the “PIN Code Method”, the PIN code assigned in advance to a registrar is registered in a client, or the PIN code generated by the client is registered in the registrar, to accomplish connection between the client and the registrar with ESSID and WPA2 set. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-15558 describes a technique to complete connection settings just by pressing buttons provided in both devices to be connected.
In the case where the terminal such as a cellular phone terminal device, for example, is significantly small, however, it is occasionally physically difficult to provide a dedicated button. Even in the case where the space for providing a button can be secured, providing a button increases the cost of manufacture. Therefore, it is determined in most cases that providing a button is impractical. In the method in which the PIN code is input for the WPS, it is necessary to input a four-digit or eight-digit number to a device. Therefore, it may take much time for a user unaccustomed to key input to make settings. Further, the PIN code may be input erroneously, which requires a user to input the PIN code again.
In the case where the Bluetooth is used as the communication means, it is also necessary to make initial settings prior to data transmission and reception. In the Bluetooth, a process called “pairing” is performed before connection is established. In the “pairing”, scanning is performed to find “connectable devices” around a terminal, and the MAC addresses and the model numbers (device names) of the detected devices are displayed in a list. Then, terminal identification information etc. is exchanged between the terminal and a device in the list selected by a user as the “device with which it is desired to communicate”, thereby accomplishing the pairing. That is, the user is inevitably required to take the troublesome procedures of performing scanning to find communicable devices and selecting one of the devices using information such as MAC addresses and device names displayed in a list before starting communication.